Consum to install ‘traffic lights’ at entrance to all its supermarkets as part of €2.5 million plan to control social distancing

SUPERMARKET chain Consum has announced plans to control customer numbers using a complex digital sensor system.

More than 1,000 access points at any supermarket will be wired up to a traffic light system that greets shoppers at the main entrance.

A screen will signal for customers to enter with a green light, while customers will be required to wait at a red light.

The supermarket chain, headquartered in Valencia, has installed the system in just 25 of its shops so far.

It plans to roll-out the measures to all of its 450 shops in Andalucia, Castilla-La Mancha, the Valencian Community, Murca and Catalunya by the end of June.

A press release said: “The system will allow Consum to automatically control its capacity, giving information in realtime, both locally and remotely, providing a more dynamic and personalised management.”

The press release added installations would cost €2.5 million.

It comes as supermarket giant Mercadona announced drastically reduced profits in March due to hefty costs of working through the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.

An internal communique recorded profits of €5 million, down from a €57 million pre-COVID-19 prediction.

It said it had spent €100 million on tackling the crisis by the end of April alone.